Neoliberal Reforms, Healthcare and Other Human Development Challenges in Nigeria

Since the adoption of the neoliberal policy in Nigeria in the 1980s its impact on the human development indices of the citizenry has not been satisfactory as manifested by the unequal income distribution gap between the rich and the poor over the years Besides the health conditions of Nigerians have experienced a decline as revealed by the increasing rate of child infant mortality and maternal mortality which expresses the failure of government reforms in adequately addressing some aspects of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals MDGs Using secondary sources of data this paper investigated how government s implementation of the neoliberal policies had impacted on the healthcare and human development indices of the citizens It was observed that rather than improve the healthcare situation and human development indices of citizens the Bretton Woods-authored reforms have rather narrowed opportunities for healthcare and human development in Nigeria To improve the declining human development indices of citizens the paper recommends the roll out of a politics of paradise to rein in the poverty and deprivation suffered by many Nigerians and the need for a human-faced approach to economic reforms among others The paper concludes that government must revisit the neoliberal reforms package in the country and stamp out the use of ad hoc and discretionary handouts and market-led growth which have failed to engender a trickledown effect on the social realities of Nigerians Citizen welfare and comfort must guide government s actions and intentions and should remain the benchmark for assessing the impact of any form of economic or social reforms that it desires to implement in the countr

Landslides in sensitive soils, Tauranga, New Zealand.

In the Tauranga region sensitive soil failures commonly occur after heavy rainfall events, causing considerable infrastructure damage. Several notable landslides include a large failure at Bramley Drive, Omokoroa in 1979, the Ruahihi Canal collapse in 1981, and numerous landslides in May 2005; recently the Bramley Drive scarp was reactivated in 2011. These failures are associated with materials loosely classified as the Pahoia Tephras - a mixture of rhyolitic pyroclastic deposits of approximately 1 Ma. The common link with extreme rainfall events suggests a pore water pressure control on the initiation of these failures. Recent research on the structure of the soils shows a dominance of halloysite clay minerals packed loosely in arrangements with high porosity (51 – 77 %), but with almost entirely micropores. This leads us to conclude that the permeability is very low, and the materials remain continuously wet. The formation of halloysite is encouraged by a wet environment with no episodes of drying, supporting this assumption. A high-resolution CPT trace at Bramley Drive indicates induced pore water pressures rising steadily to a peak at approximately 25 m depth; this depth coincides with the base of the landslide scarp. We infer that elevated pore water pressures develop within this single, thick aquifer, triggering failure through reduced effective stresses. The inactive halloysite clay mineral results in low plasticity indices (13 – 44 %) and hence high liquidity indices (1.2 – 2.4) due to the saturated pore space; remoulding following failure is sudden and dramatic and results in large debris runout distances

Sustainability Analysis of Nigeriaas Foreign Debt Profile and Management Strategies

Over the years Nigeria has faced series of development challenges despite the fact that the governments have constantly accessed credit facilities for national development This contradiction became a source of worry for scholars journalists and commentators who began to question the management of the country s foreign debt The debate became more critical and controversial when Nigeria in attempt to wriggle itself out of the foreign debt burden negotiated Debt Relief with the major external creditors While some individuals share the view that the negotiated debt relief actually relieved Nigeria from its financial burden others contended that the purported Debt Relief more or less worsened Nigeria s indebtedness to the creditors because the conditions like previous ones associated with the debt management strategies were more exploitative than palliative Although attempts have been made to examine the country s debt management strategies by investigating the trends in Nigeria s debt profile adequate research-based attention has not been given to the extent which the Debt Relief is effective and sustainable Consequently this paper is tailored towards addressing the questions How effective were the debt management strategies adopted by the Nigerian government in addressing debt crisis Has the debt relief granted to Nigeria in 2006 actually relieved the country from the debt burden How sustainable is the debt relief This study is therefore meant to analyse Nigeria s foreign debt management and the challenges of sustainability In the light of the dependency theory and time-series analysis it is argued that Nigeria only enjoyed temporary relief from the debt crisis because the management strategies adopted so far were not effective as to ensure sustainabilit

Theoretical Perspectives on Nigeria’s Enforcement of the International Court of Justice’s Verdict Over Bakassi Peninsula

Various theoretical explanations have been advanced with respect to why Nigeria ceded Bakassi peninsula to Cameroun after initial rejection of the verdict passed by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on 10th October, 2002. The different arguments over the national interests that informed the ceding of the Bakassi peninsula to Cameroon, found expressions in the democratic-state theory, consequence theory, economic-aid theory, Deterrence theory, and the regime-type theory. Without prejudice to the postulations of the various theories, it is argued that though the identified variables all played out in Nigeria’s enforcement of the international court of Justice’s verdict, it seems to have been guided more by the consequence and the conspiracy theories

Sustainability Analysis of Nigeriaas Foreign Debt Profile and Management Strategies

Over the years Nigeria has faced series of development challenges despite the fact that the governments have constantly accessed credit facilities for national development This contradiction became a source of worry for scholars journalists and commentators who began to question the management of the country s foreign debt The debate became more critical and controversial when Nigeria in attempt to wriggle itself out of the foreign debt burden negotiated Debt Relief with the major external creditors While some individuals share the view that the negotiated debt relief actually relieved Nigeria from its financial burden others contended that the purported Debt Relief more or less worsened Nigeria s indebtedness to the creditors because the conditions like previous ones associated with the debt management strategies were more exploitative than palliative Although attempts have been made to examine the country s debt management strategies by investigating the trends in Nigeria s debt profile adequate research-based attention has not been given to the extent which the Debt Relief is effective and sustainable Consequently this paper is tailored towards addressing the questions How effective were the debt management strategies adopted by the Nigerian government in addressing debt crisis Has the debt relief granted to Nigeria in 2006 actually relieved the country from the debt burden How sustainable is the debt relief This study is therefore meant to analyse Nigeria s foreign debt management and the challenges of sustainability In the light of the dependency theory and time-series analysis it is argued that Nigeria only enjoyed temporary relief from the debt crisis because the management strategies adopted so far were not effective as to ensure sustainabilit

Molecular phylogeny and spore evolution of Entolomataceae

The phylogeny of the Entolomataceae was reconstructed using three loci (RPB2, LSU and mtSSU) and, in conjunction with spore morphology (using SEM and TEM), was used to address four main systematic issues: 1) the monophyly of the Entolomataceae; 2) inter-generic relationships within the Entolomataceae; 3) genus delimitation of Entolomataceae; and 4) spore evolution in the Entolomataceae. Results confirm that the Entolomataceae (Entoloma, Rhodocybe, Clitopilus, Richoniella and Rhodogaster) is monophyletic and that the combination of pinkish spore prints and spores having bumps and/or ridges formed by an epicorium is a synapomorphy for the family. The Entolomataceae is made up of two sister clades: one with Clitopilus nested within Rhodocybe and another with Richoniella and Rhodogaster nested within Entoloma. Entoloma is best retained as one genus. The smaller genera within Entoloma s.l. are either polyphyletic or make other genera paraphyletic. Spores of the clitopiloid type are derived from rhodocyboid spores. The ancestral spore type of the Entolomataceae was either rhodocyboid or entolomatoid. Taxonomic and nomenclatural changes are made including merging Rhodocybe into Clitopilus and transferring relevant species into Clitopilus and Entoloma

Targeting lentiviral vectors to antigen-specific immunoglobulins

Gene transfer into B cells by lentivectors can provide an alternative approach to managing B lymphocyte malignancies and autoreactive B cell-mediated autoimmune diseases. These pathogenic B cell Populations can be distinguished by their surface expression of monospecific immunoglobulin. Development of a novel vector system to deliver genes to these specific B cells could improve the safety and efficacy of gene therapy. We have developed an efficient rnethod to target lentivectors to monospecific immunoglobulin-expressing cells in vitro and hi vivo. We were able to incorporate a model antigen CD20 and a fusogenic protein derived from the Sindbis virus as two distinct molecules into the lentiviral Surface. This engineered vector could specifically bind to cells expressing Surface immunoglobulin recognizing CD20 (αCD20), resulting in efficient transduction of target cells in a cognate antigen-dependent manner in vitro, and in vivo in a xenografted tumor model. Tumor suppression was observed in vivo, using the engineered lentivector to deliver a suicide gene to a xenografted tumor expressing αCD20. These results show the feasibility of engineering lentivectors to target immunoglobulin-specific cells to deliver a therapeutic effect. Such targeting lentivectors also Could potentially be used to genetically mark antigen-specific B cells in vivo to study their B cell biology

Effects of Social Conflicts on the Sustainable Development of Ebonyi State, A Study of Ezillo-Ezza Ezillo Conflicts (2008-2014)

The paper focused on the “Effects of social conflicts on the sustainable development of Ebonyi State, a study of Ezillo-Ezza Ezillo conflicts. The study sought to ascertain how far the conflicts have affected socio-economic development parameters like level of poverty, provision and sustainability of infrastructure and social amenities; unemployment, peaceful co-existence, security of lives and properties among others. Extant literature were reviewed and there is a common understanding that conflict is inevitable in all human societies and that factors that result to conflicts are multi- dimentional. The Ezza- Ezillo conflict has been largely caused by indigene-settler conundrum and the natural tendency to gain material resources by man. This was further buttressed by the social atavistic conflict theory which maintained that there is a natural tendency on the part of creatures to migrate, expand and dominate space, or territory using a means possible – peace or through the use of force. It is therefore, the tendency to expand one’s territory that breeds resistance or clash of occupation. A descriptive survey design was adopted. Both primary and secondary data were utilized. The paper found out that the Ezillo-Ezza- Ezillo conflicts have affected the provision of infrastructure facilities in Ebonyi State, it has led to increase in the level of poverty and youth unemployment etc. The paper therefore recommends for a participatory or people driven approach to conflict resolution and management. Keywords: Sustainable development, conflicts, poverty, unemployment, social amenities

Petroleum Products Scarcity in Abakaliki and the Challenges of Enforcing Administrative Law by the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC Ebonyi State Command)

This study was carried out to appraise the role played by the Nigerian Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC Ebonyi state command) in controlling crime and civil disobedience especially during the petroleum products scarcity in Abakaliki from 12th to 14th November, 2014. Public sentiment paradigm and the interest group theoretical perspective were combined to appraise the role played by the corps during the impasse. The interest group theory was adopted for the study, based on its relevance to the working of the NSCDC in Nigeria. The area and population of study were the entire Ebonyi state and its residents that use petroleum products on almost on a daily basis. The sad story is that liberty and freedom to exercise administrative power have often led to administrative vices like impunity, oppression, victimization and so on. This was evident in the hardship suffered by residents of Abakaliki during the misunderstanding between the Ebonyi state command of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defense Corps and the Ebonyi State Petroleum Marketers Association. It is therefore needful to put in place strategies such as strategic public opinion boxes for masses to lodge their grievances on the excessive use of administrative laws to provide checks and balances in the administrative setting and to stimulate remedies for those who become victims of executive or administrative high handedness and misrule. Keywords: Petroleum products, challenges, administrative law, NSCDC

New Criticality of 1D Fermions

One-dimensional massive quantum particles (or 1+1-dimensional random walks) with short-ranged multi-particle interactions are studied by exact renormalization group methods. With repulsive pair forces, such particles are known to scale as free fermions. With finite $m$-body forces (m = 3,4,...), a critical instability is found, indicating the transition to a fermionic bound state. These unbinding transitions represent new universality classes of interacting fermions relevant to polymer and membrane systems. Implications for massless fermions, e.g. in the Hubbard model, are also noted. (to appear in Phys. Rev. Lett.)Comment: 10 pages (latex), with 2 figures (not included